By Penelope Galliou

While all the political parties they unfold – now – their pre-election strategy on the field, either in the tours of the political leaders, or with the interviews, or with their choices on the ballots, on a second “level” they do not hide their concern for the next day of the elections and the post-election scenarios that accompany her.

At the center of these discussions and scenarios are also the post-election partnerships and how and with whom there is a possibility of achieving them.

In a first televised “debate” but from different frequencies, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Alexis Tsipras, perhaps for the first time and almost at the same time, reduced the role of Yannis Varoufakis in a potential cooperation government to a cause of war, then the publication that presented a meeting of Alexis Tsipras with the head of MeRA25, which Koumoundourou denied.

“Here there is complete confusion. Progressive, losers, tolerance government, I don’t know now, it has been circulated that Mr. Varoufakis has met with Tsipras. They have not met, there is no doubt that Tsipras has made an open call to Varoufakis, Mr. Tsipras is consciously inviting the man who wants to replace your euros with Dimitres into a progressive alliance,” commented the prime minister in his interview on the OPEN television station, insisting that the possibility of cooperation between the two former partners has not definitively disappeared..

A scenario, however, which shortly after the frequency of SKAI television and the show “Mismatches”, Alexis Tsipras hastened to deny and reject, stating first of all that he does not hold secret meetings with political leaders and if they ever happen, they will happen out in the open.

The president of SYRIZA attributed “Trump” practices to the prime minister, adding that these are fake news, on the occasion of the publication about the meeting between Tsipras and Varoufakis, at the same time claiming that “Mr. Mitsotakis is trying to convince the “boob” Varoufakis, but Mr. Varoufakis has obsessions too. Is it possible in 2023 to talk about Dimitres and Dr?” asked Mr. Tsipras.

The head of MeRA25 also denied the Tsipras – Varoufakis meeting, calling it fake news, characterizing the publication as indicative of the “right-wing apartment building”‘s apathy for a conspiracy that “recruits a vulgar right-wing pamphlet”.

In the post-election eventualities, however, for the prime minister there are scenarios of a defeated government even though Alexis Tsipras rejected it again stating that only if SYRIZA is the first party will he seek cooperation with the third party.

“There is a way to close every rift in a potential SYRIZA – Varoufakis – PASOK government,” said the prime minister, “so that the ND is very strong at the ballot box on May 21,” he said, stressing that this government in particular, of the second, third and fourth party will be a government of losers.

A government that Alexis Tsipras did not comment on but countered that the progressive government of cooperation that is preached concerns the first and third parties.

“The first and the third party will in all probability and with all certainty be able to form a government from the first elections of simple proportionality, if SYRIZA is the first party“.

The two leaders also clashed over the complaints of Kyriakos Velopoulos about defection, with Alexis Tsipras adopting the complaints of the president of the Hellenic Solution, characterizing what is happening as abnormal, and he himself turned his fire against Kyriakos Mitsotakis, arguing that “Mr. . Mitsotakis and the ND are under great pressure and want to mediate, to eliminate everything that exists on their right because they have made a strategic choice to go to the elections with an extreme right-wing rhetoric”.

Accusations that the prime minister categorically denied, repeating the ND’s clear position that “There is absolutely no case for the ND to form an independent government without relying exclusively on its own elected deputies”.

Also, in the post-election scenarios, PASOK can play an important role in the eventuality of seeking partnerships, even though for the prime minister the goal remains a single-party autonomous government.

“I will not tell you what Mr. Androulakis says, who does not seem particularly convincing to me when he says that on principle he does not accept the leader of the first party as prime minister,” said Mr. Mitsotakis, adding the big – as he said – differences that divide the ND and PASOK, and although he admitted that there may be calls in some places, he reminded that from the first moment of this pre-election “battle” he has not hidden the desire “to have a stable one-party government“.

On the contrary, Alexis Tsipras did not completely close the door to Harilaou Trikoupis, noting that “Mr. Androulakis will express his views. We will listen to them with great interest and we will discuss them again the day after the elections. Because between the pre-election discussion and the post-election discussion, there is a reflection of the people’s verdict,” he said.

Harilaou Trikoupi herself, however, and Nikos Androulakis insist on setting specific conditions for a possible post-election debate on a governmental cooperation, with a tipping point, for the two first contenders for the government, that the proposal of the president of PASOK, prime minister in such a government to be a third person, without him being revealed before the elections and called by his political opponents “unknown X”.

However, as far as the relations between Alexis Tsipras and Yannis Varoufakis are concerned, they seem to have become even more difficult because of “Dimitra” and the related plan of the head of MeRA25 to close the banks, with Mr. Tsipras through SKAI emphasizing that “I issues coin I didn’t bring up in discussion, not even in discussion, not in negotiation when it was a matter of discussion, because Schäuble brought it up strongly. And we parted ways then. That’s why we parted ways. Shall I put it now?” he wondered, shutting down any relevant rumours.​